

v > a— »■ ' * ° * % v v Vy ' 

Lv * ^ /v ;. f ^,,v *3* I, * #?** 

>f ;, -^Cp - - -^p s , ^ «* 

r«.i* a *b V v . o* ^ **„' 

1 * ^ e 0 N c * f> 0 1 • • s 0 < fll li, W <J, 

. o 3 *0* &/, ,,.' ^ y * ^V ;cP 


* 
k ° O, 


/ -wv, % # *'dite* * #Vi 

'V -1 ^ t: / ' v> *%. s \ > - aV </» " * 

%! V^ 

v # .'V *, O 

aN 

*A V = * ,.»....- - 


+~ v«5**S %** 

A *+ * Vr*- > , N o ©* : *•>■ 'iJ 

#V ^ ^ '>'-.^-v o r * -3>v 0 

• I s V^ . . , s o 3 M c o, % u ,:■' a* 

v' S s C “ 'y, > ^‘»A \> 

^ c /- V. v - 

aX 

r -<i -t V* c \ ■' y K ,* , / -•£> 

^•'. x * ' V. „ r\ t\' Av^f*W' _/7\ -r. 




CV* " o , 

• A’ ^ ». * ^ V V f * ^ 


V r^s ^ - * ,<r v -<v ^ 

* .,< - * r» v\‘ * 4 - ww V # V 6 •>» .A 

$> % ': i I •' ** s * *%. o r r, *f>§ * a. + 

*0 'o*s*[s .y - * •■ > * . ^ ■>, 

1 jC / / • >1 9 S '\ 

N / -^ ' *p 

Hk ^ . , 

f Via' . ^ ••- - v> 


•° * r 



* «* v ' V _ V - -<r - 

^ 'V 

<* ^ O * *> * A 

« I B \ ~ N C 


<* 'itc C 

^ V 

aV </>_ 

«r . ^ ^ r> ✓ \ .V 

'o . V * ^ o* , , ^ ° ,111, 

,s\ c w * «0 fV . * H . 



% * -, S "■’ <° °i, ♦..I'* \* 

* > A <r * ' * <v ^ v x V >, 

fe ". .-> '<<•• A v 

v>;^** ** vv.-v 


4 u o 


























BRAVE LITTLE MAID 
OF GOLDAU 


BY 

MARY ELIZABETH JENNINGS 


1 






















































































































' 




* Jf 1 m « 1 





12 $1.1 

’ ■ K -5 

L'r • t 

i *W M 

9 ' 9 * 

fb%%) 







THE 


BRAVE LITTLE MAID 
OF GOLDAU 


BY 


MARY ELIZABETH JENNINGS 


r 


' LtC 22 1892 


r-^'i 1/ g J( 


NEW YORK 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY 

(incorporated) 

182 FIFTH AVENUE 



<3 


Copyright, 1892, by 
Anson D. F. Randolph & Company. 
(Incorporated). 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

A Nestling Village.— F rontispiece. 

The Land-Slide. — T o face page 13. 

The Peaceful Valley. — T o face page 33. 
Evening Bells. — T o face page 38. 






































f 

K 


• • 









^ «r 


# 




f . 


-••-*! * * . 

% 












* 





















THE BRAVE LITTLE MAID 
OF GOLDAU. 


I. 

. ; 

Throughout Switzerland, the 
summer of 1806 is always spoken of 
as “ The wet Summer.” During May, 
June, and July, many and heavy 
showers fell, but in August it rained 
almost every day. In the Canton of 
Schwytz, the sky was So dark and 
forbidding that the clouds left the 
upper spaces, and chased each other 
quite down the mountain sides : and 
shut out the lovely little valley, which 
lay. between Mount Rossberg and 
Mount Rigi, from the rest of the 
world. The people cared little for 

this, however, • for was not the grass 

( 3 ) 


4 


The Brave little Maid 


in the meadows on the mountain 
side as sweet as sweet could be ? had 
the cows ever given richer milk ? 
had ever such butter and cheese been 
made before, or so good a price re- 
ceived for it ? And look at the gar- 
dens ; such cauliflower ! such cab- 
bage ! such potatoes ! And above 
all, look around at the “ over world,” 
the mosses, the vines, the shrubs, and 
trees, whose leaves, from the tender- 
est brown to the darkest green, seem 
as though tipped with diamonds, they 
sparkle so ! And the flowers ; were 
their colors ever more soft and lovely? 
No, everything was beautiful ! beau- 
tiful ! True, the tourists grumbled 
at the weather, but they always had 
a way of grumbling at something, 
and perhaps it might as well be the 
weather as anything else : and so the 
Fraus talked, and smiled, and nod- 


of Goldau. 


5 


ded their heads, which made their 
words all the more reliable. 

At the foot of the Rossberg nes- 
tled the pretty little village of Goldau. 
The mountain lifted its head five 
thousand feet above the village, but 
it smiled down upon it so kindly, 
and when the sharp winds blew 
shielded it so securely, that the peo- 
ple looked up with grateful eyes and 
spoke of it as their own beautiful 
mountain. And it was indeed beau- 
tiful. Near the top, and extending 
for a good way down its side, grew 
strong large trees, with little trees in 
between ; quite a wood in fact ; and 
when the wind passed over the moun- 
tain tops, the leaves rustled, shook 
hands, and laughed and talked in the 
pleasantest way imaginable. Below 
the wood, lay the great green mead- 
ows, where the grass grew soft and 


6 


The Brave little Maid 


thick like velvet ; and gardens too, 
for the people of Goldau not only 
kept many cows, but thought much 
of their cauliflower, cabbage, and 
potatoes. A little higher on the 
mountain side than most of the 
houses in the village, stood the home 
of young Kaspar Bernstein, Josepha 
his wife, three pretty children, and a 
little maid named Franziska Ulrich. 
Heinrich, the eldest, was a stout lad 
of eight years, who helped his father 
drive the cows to and from the pas- 
ture, and pulled the weeds in the 
garden. But the pet of the house- 
hold was wee, blue-eyed Gretchen, a 
demure little maid of six years, who 
helped her mother, or thought she 
did, and made the hours pass happily 
for baby Fritz. Their home was a 
very pleasant one, clean and comfort- 
able ; the floors white with frequent 


oJl Goldau. 


7 


scrubbings, — the pretty blue picture 
dishes at which Gretchen never tired 
of looking as the plates stood on 
edge in the racks on the wall-; the 
tinware polished until it shone like 
silver ; and the great square tile stove, 
with the bench around three sides of 
it, so that all could sit with their 
backs against the warm tile of an 
evening, while the top was large 
enough to make a bed upon in the 
coldest winter nights, — oh, it was as 
cozy and comfortable as a home 
could well be ! And in the Summer 
time, how breezy the house was when 
the doors and windows were all wide 
open ; why, one could stand in the 
front door, and look right out through 
the back door at the mountain. And 
the view of Goldau, with other little 
towns all lying so close together, and 
the shimmering water of the lake, 


8 


The Brave little Maid 


made a picture always lovely to look 
upon ; and when the sweet tones of 
the church bells floated up to them, 
morning and evening, their joy was 
complete. 


of Goldau. 


9 


II. 

The second morning of Septem- 
ber opened dark and uncomfortable 
enough. The rain fell in torrents ; 
at seven o’clock it was still too dark 
to see without a candle. Kaspar went 
out and attended to his cattle, and 
when he brought in the milk said to 
his wife, — 

“ Frantz Schwartz was on top of 
the mountain yesterday ; he says that 
the little crack up there has so 
widened that he cannot now jump 
across it.” 

“ Is there any danger, think you ? ” 
anxiously asked the wife, setting the 
wooden pail on the floor and looking 
up at him. 

“No, no,” answered Kaspar care- 


10 


The Brave little Maid 


lessly, shaking the water from his 
cap, “ if there should be a split-off, it 
won’t get any further than the trees ; 
they’ll hold it, never fear,” and turn- 
ing from her he went off to his work, 
whistling merrily. 

But Frau Bernstein did not feel 
so sure, and many times during the 
morning she opened the door and 
looked long and anxiously toward 
the top of the towering mountain. 

“ I know not what makes me feel 
so afraid,” she said to Franziska, who 
was holding and amusing baby Fritz, 
“yet I cannot help it; even the trees, 
seem to be worried about something, 
the leaves all hang their heads so.” 

“What nonsense,” laughed Kaspar, 
coming in just in time to catch her 
last words ; “ the leaves are soaked 
through and through with water, and 
are too heavy to hold their heads up.” 


of Goldau. 


11 


But there was work to do, and, in 
spite of anxiety, the morning hours 
passed quickly. 

About dinner-time the rain stop- 
ped falling, but the black, angry 
clouds settled down more heavily 
over meadow and town, and after a 
few moments of quiet a gust of ice- 
cold wind swept down the mountain 
sides, followed by a furious, though 
short, storm of hail. 

The afternoon wore away with no 
return of the storm, and the hearts 
of all grew lighter. 

“ Now God be thanked that it no 
more rains and the danger is over,” 
said the mother. 

About five o’clock Kaspar looked 
in and said, “ Josepha, come out and 
see what the hail has done ; the trees 
no more bear leaves but ribbons on 
their branches ; the vines are strip- 


12 


The Brave little Maid 


ped, and nothing is left in the gar- 
den.” 

Baby Fritz was asleep in his cradle, 
Gretchen busy with her play, and 
leaving Franziska to care for them, 
Frau Bernstein, followed by Hein- 
rich, passed out through the kitchen 
leaving the door open, — 

“ It will be good for the house that 
the air enter ; the rain has made it so 
damp,” said she. 

Franziska watched them until 
Gretchen called, — “ Freddie ! Fred- 
die ! come see the funny little birds.” 

Franziska hurried to the window, 
then opened the front door, and stood 
upon the steps, Gretchen close be- 
side her. 

How strangely the birds acted, to 
be sure. They flew round and round 
in the air, all the time uttering a 
plaintive little cry : the cattle, too, 











of Goldau. 


13 


showed great uneasiness, and began 
to run about the meadows lowing as 
they ran. What could it all mean ? 
Kaspar and his wife asked the same 
question, and, as if in answer, a huge 
boulder left the mountain top and 
crashed into the trees. It fell no 
further; the trees held it ; but when 
three or four others rolled down to- 
gether, that was more than the trees 
could stand ; they bent and broke and 
the huge rocks came rolling down the 
mountain side into the village below. 
Kaspar looked at the mountain and 
saw the trees tottering and falling, 
and the ground all in motion, and 
seizing Heinrich with one hand and 
his wife with the other, he shouted, 
“ A land slide ! run ! run ! ! ” 

Now, in times of great excitement, 
a father may forget his chddren for a 
moment, but a mother never; so 


14 The Brave little Maid 

tearing herself from her husband’s 
grasp with the words, “ Gretchen ! 
Fritz!” Frau Bernstein ran toward 
the house as fast as she could run, 
not minding in the least that she was 
in the track of the falling stones. 
As she reached the door, she caught 
Gretchen up in her arms, and rushed 
into the room where baby Fritz 
lay sleeping. Handing Gretchen to 
Franziska, who had followed her, it 
was the work of a moment only to 
lift the baby from his cradle, but as 
Franziska turned to leave the room 
she saw, with horror-stricken eyes, 
what seemed to be the whole moun- 
tain side coming through the back 
door. One step only when a 
crashing, splintering, grinding noise 
filled her ears ; and then all be- 
came a blank. When she came to 
herself, she was in the dark ; so 


of Goldau. 


15 


dark it was she could not see at all, 
but worse than that, she was buried 
to her shoulders in wet earth and 
stones, and the blood was running 
down her face from a sharp cut in 
her forehead. 

After struggling a few moments 
she succeeded in freeing one of her 
hands, and as she wiped the blood 
away, the horrible truth flashed upon 
her — she was buried alive ! Then 
how she struggled, and cried, and 
prayed, and shouted for help ; but 
the cruel earth held her close, and 
there was no one to hear or answer 
her. “ Oh, if with the rest of them 
I too had died ! ” she sobbed, when 
the first paroxysm of terror had spent 
itself, — “ but to starve here is horri- 
ble ! horrible!” and again she sought 
to free herself from the earth around 
her, but in vain. 


16 


The Brave little Maid 


A low moan, followed by sobs of 
fright and pain, with a piteous cry of 
“ Mutter ! Mutter !” broke upon her 
ear ; it was little Gretchen’s voice. 

At the sound, all that was noble 
and heroic in the girl’s nature asserted 
itself ; her own pain and danger were 
forgotten ; she must save Gretchen 
somehow, but first she must soothe 
and comfort her. “Gretchen ! Gret- 
chen ! ” she called, “where are you, 
dear ?'” 

“ Don’t know,” answered the little 
one between her sobs. 

“ Come here, darling, you can come 
to Freddie, can’t you?” 

“ I can’t get up,” wailed the child 
after a moment’s silence ; “ something 
won’t let me go.” 

“ Don’t cry so, darling,” said Frah- 
ziska ; “ can you see anything ?” 

“ Can’t see anything but a little 


of Goldau. 


17 


star in the dark,” replied the plaintive 
little voice. At this answer, a great 
hope filled the heart of Franziska ; 
the little star must be a small open- 
ing through which the fading day- 
light found an entrance ; they were 
not so deeply buried as she had 
feared. 

“Want a drink of water," wailed 
the little one, — “ Freddie, come and 
give Gretchen a drink." 

Oh, how she longed to go. 

“ What shall I do ! oh, what shall 
I do ! " she moaned under her breath ; 
then with a great effort at self-con- 
trol she said aloud, — “Gretchen, dar- 
ling, Freddie can’t come, so fast the 
dirt holds her ; but perhaps ‘ der 
Vater’ will come soon, and he will 
give Gretchen water ; only be patient, 
darling, and do not be afraid, Freddie 
is close here; now don’t cry any 


18 


The Brave little Maid 


more and she will tell you a story ; 
you want to hear again the story, 
don’t you, Gretchen, about the prince 
who found the real princess ? ” 

No answer, but the sobbing grew 
less violent. The tears were running 
down her own cheeks, but she began 
bravely, — 

“ Once, upon a time, there was a 
prince who wished to marry a prin- 
cess, but he wanted her to be a real 
princess. He travelled all around 
the world to find one ; not that there 
was any lack of princesses, but as to 
whether or no they were real ones, 
he could not always make out ; there 
was sure to be something about them 
not just satisfactory. At last he went 
home quite unhappy, so disappointed 
was he at not finding a real princess. 

“ One evening there was a furious 
storm. It thundered and lightened, 


of Goldau. 


19 


and the rain poured down till it was 
quite dreadful. Between the thunder- 
claps there came a knock at the 
town -gate. The old king, after think- 
ing a moment, said the gate should 
not be opened ; no good person 
would be out in such bad weather ; 
and if he were, he had no business 
to be. But he was a kind-hearted 
old king, and when it thundered and 
lightened and rained harder than 
ever, he went himself and opened it. 

“ A princess stood outside the gate, 
but, — oh dear — what a state she was 
in from the rain and the bad weather ! 
The water was dripping down from 
her hair and her clothes, and running 
in at the tips of her shoes and com- 
ing out at the heels. Yet she said 
she was a real princess. Well, that 
we’ll presently see, thought the old 
queen, the king’s wife, but she said 


20 


The Brave little Maid 


nothing. She opened the door into a 
large room. ‘ Oh, my ! ’ said the prin- 
cess, as she looked around. Except 
where the windows were, the walls 
were all covered with closets and 
mirrors : first a closet, and then a 
mirror ; then a closet, then another 
mirror, and so on all around the 
room. The old queen opened a 
closet door. There were the pret- 
tiest little slippers the princess had 
ever set her eyes upon. Slippers of 
white satin, slippers of black satin, 
slippers of red satin, slippers of gold 
satin, — indeed there were slippers of 
every color under the sun. 

“The princess peeped into another 
closet. On shelves lay piles of the 
softest silk stockings, — a pair of 
stockings for every pair of slippers. 
‘Oh, my!’ again said the princess. 
In the other closets hung gowns of 


of Goldau. 


21 


satin, and gowns of silk, and indeed 
there was everything a princess could 
have need of. 

“ ‘Now, help yourself,’ said the old 
queen, and off she went to the kitch- 
en to hurry up the dinner ; for when 
princesses have been out in the rain 
they are apt to be hungry.” 

“ Gretchen’s hungry too, — give 
Gretchen some bread,” came in faint 
tones. 

“When ‘ der Vater’ comes, dar- 
ling. Just hear the rest of the story. 

“ The princess stood a long time in 
thought. She could not make up 
her mind just what to put on. Black 
would be the most appropriate, she 
at last decided ; she was not in mourn- 
ing, but she was in trouble, and that 
was the next thing to it. So she put 
on the black silk stockings, the black 
satin slippers, and a black satin 


22 


The Brave little Maid 


gown ; then she stood in the middle 
of the room and looked at herself 
in the mirrors. 

“ ‘ Oh, my,’ said the princess, ‘ how 
fine it is to see one’s self all around 
at the same time, and not have to 
turn first this way and then that.’ 

“ When the princess came out of 
the room how lovely she did look, 
to be sure. Her hair curled all 
around her face in little rings ; her 
eyes were blue as a bit of the sky 
in sunshiny weather, her hands were 
white as milk, and when the prince 
touched one of them he thought he 
had never felt anything softer. So 
delighted was he, he wished to marry 
her on the spot, but the old queen 
was not quite satisfied. 4 She looks 
well, and she eats well, but wait and 
see how she sleeps,’ said she. So 
she went into the chamber and took 


of Goldau. 


23 


off the bedding and laid a bean upon 
the mattress. Then she laid twenty 
mattresses upon the bean, and piled 
twenty eider-down beds on top of 
the mattresses. 

“ The princess lay upon them the 
whole night. In the morning, ‘How 
did you sleep ? ’ asked the old queen. 

“‘Oh, very badly,’ said the prin- 
cess ; ‘ I scarcely closed my eyes all 
night ! I do not know what was in 
the bed ! I laid upon some hard 
thing which has made me black and 
blue all over. It was quite dread- 
ful ! ’ 

“ It was now evident that she was 
a real princess, since she perceived the 
bean through twenty mattresses and 
twenty eider-down beds. None but 
a princess could have such delicate 
feeling. So the prince married her, 
for he knew he had found a real 


24 


The Brave little Maid 


princess, and they lived happy ever 
after. 

“ Now, wasn’t it nice that the 
prince found a real princess after all ? ” 

No answer. 

“ Gretchen, can’t you hear me ? ” 
she cried. 

Still no answer. 

“ Gretchen ! Gretchen ! ” she called, 
now thoroughly frightened, “ speak 
to Freddie ! ” but there was no sound 
save her own voice. Then despair 
filled the heart of poor Franziska. 
“ Oh ! she is dying ! she is dead ! my 
little Gretchen ! if I could only go to 
her I could get her out from under 
the dirt and stones, so strong am I 
and she dug desperately at the earth 
surrounding her with her one poor 
hand, but how vain were all her 
efforts — and soon realizing this, she 
stopped struggling. 


of Goldau. 


25 


The long hours in their slow march 
seemed almost to pause beside her. 
How cold she was, all except her 
head, — that seemed on fire. How 
the earth pinched her ; if it held her 
so tight long, her heart must stop 
beating, — how still everything was ; 
— she had heard of the quiet of 
the grave, now she knew what that 
meant ; — only she had never thought 
it could press down upon and hurt 
her so ; — and the night wore itself 
slowly out, with now no sound save 
the creaking of some heavy timber as 
it sank prone upon the ground under 
its load of earth and stones. 

The faint, sweet tones of the morn- 
ing bell penetrated her prison, arous- 
ing her from the stupor into which 
she had fallen. 

“ Oh, I cannot die ! I cannot die, 
when it is morning and the earth is 


26 


The Brave little Maid 


so near ! my sweet bells ! how you 
torture me. Heilige Maria , bitt fiir 
uns ! — bitt fiir uns ! ” 

Her piteous cry pierced little Gret- 
chen’s returning consciousness, and 
feebly she answered her. 


of Goldau. 


27 


III. 

Above, Kaspar Bernstein was 
searching frantically for the location 
of his lost home. As the bells died 
away, with the full force of his 
strong lungs he shouted, “Josepha! 
Josepha ! Jo-se-pha ! ” 

Franziska heard, and, with the cry — 
“ Oh, Gretchen ! hear you ? it is * der 
Vater’s’ voice,” — answered him with 
all her strength, but her voice failed 
to reach the outer air. 

Still shouting he wandered to and 
fro, now near them, now more re- 
mote. 

“ Gretchen ! ” she called, “ answer 
‘der Vater’; perhaps he can hear you 
through the little star.” 

Gretchen only moaned. 


28 The Brave little Maid 

“ Gretchen, you must answer ! ‘ der 
Vater’ will not find us; he will go 
away and leave us here to die, — 
Gretchen darling — shout as loud as 
you can — for the love of God, Gret- 
chen ! ” And the little one lifted 
her feeble voice and called, “ Vater ! 
Vater ! ” 

Overwhelmed by sorrow, as Kas- 
par stood a moment motionless, that 
faint cry reached him like a whisper 
from God. Oh, how desperately he 
dug, throwing the earth and stones 
in all directions in his eager haste to 
reach his darling, while he shouted 
words of hope and comfort to her. 

It was not long before he came 
upon the front room of his ruined 
home. There, beside the crushed 
cradle, lay his dead wife, little Fritz 
clasped in her arms. He lifted them 
tenderly, and laid them carefully 


of Goldau. 


29 


down out in the open air. He would 
go back to them later; there would 
be time for grieving, but not now. 
A little further on lay Gretchen, 
under a pile of dirt and stones. She 
was badly bruised, and her hip was 
broken. As he raised her in his 
arms, the blue eyes opened ; a slight 
smile flitted over the pale face as she 
whispered “Vater.” 

The tears which had not started 
when he beheld his dead wife and 
baby now ran down his cheeks, and 
he felt as though he could never let 
her go ; but there was still work to 
do, so placing her in the arms of a 
kind-hearted Frau from a neighbor- 
ing village, he carefully dug his way 
towards Franziska. As the light en- 
tered her prison she looked about 
her. Some of the beams and boards 
of the house were jammed together 


30 


The Brave little Maid 


about six inches above her head, and 
held back the earth that must other- 
wise have crushed her. When Kas- 
par reached her, he found her so 
wedged in between great stones and 
beams, he could not dig her out 
alone ; so bidding her keep her hope 
and courage a little longer, he went 
for help. 

The earth, which had so recently- 
been disturbed, now and then fell in 
small quantities into the opening ; 
and occasionally a stone rolled over 
the edge. 

Franziska’s strength began to de- 
sert her ; — how long it was since “ der 
Vater” had left her; — what if the 
earth should cave in upon her before 
he returned ; — the beams above her 
head, — she surely saw them move ; 
and when at last help reached her 
she was unconscious. 


of Goldau. 


31 


The kind-hearted Frau who had 
taken Gretchen opened her heart and 
home to Franziska also ; but many 
weeks passed before she knew any 
one. In her delirium she was con- 
stantly talking to Gretchen, telling 
her stories, begging her not to be 
afraid, — not to cry so ; until the good 
Frau would turn away her head, and 
with her apron wipe her eyes. But, 
one day, when the ground was white 
with snow, she awoke and knew 
them, and when little Gretchen, who 
had grown quite well and strong, 
climbed up on the bed and kissed 
her over and over again, Franziska 
thought she must have died and 
waked up in heaven, such a wave of 
happiness rolled over her. 

It was many days before Frau 
Brinkerhoff told her how on that 
never-to-be-forgotten day tons and 


32 The Brave little Maid 

tons of earth and stones broke away 
from the Rossberg, and came sweep- 
ing into the valley, burying four vil- 
lages and five hundred souls ; how 
the earth filled up one end of the 
lake, and the water rose in a great 
wall and swept out onto the land 
wrecking all before it ; how Frau 
Bernstein and baby Fritz lay in the 
quiet church-yard, and how the beau- 
tiful laughing valley was beautiful no 
longer, but oh, so desolate ! 









of Goldau. 


33 


IV. 

When Spring came again, and 
Kaspar got his little family together, 
what could they have done with- 
out Franziska. She cooked, and 
scrubbed, and sewed, and mended, 
and kept the patches on Heinrich’s 
knees ; she knit the long woolen 
stockings, and taught Gretchen all 
she could, just as the good “ Mutter” 
would have wished. And as the 
years passed away, Kaspar and the 
children thought there never was a 
lovelier, sweeter maid than Franziska 
Ulrich. 

Karl Schultzer thought so too ; he 
told her so one day and asked her to 
be his wife. She put her hand in 
his, and, looking into his honest eyes, 


34 


The Brace little Maid 


said, “ Karl, I love you too, but the 
last thing ‘die Mutter’ said on that 
— that dreadful day when she gave 
me Gretchen, was, ‘Take care of 
her’; — I cannot leave her.” 

“ But now Gretchen is old enough 
to take care of herself,” urged Karl. 

With a faint smile Franziska an- 
swered, — “ Karl, you cannot change 
me ; I thought it all out as I lay 
upon my bed when my head was no 
longer queer, and the first time I 
went to the church to pray to the 
‘ Heilige Mutter’ I told her I would 
be faithful ; — my word I cannot 
break and seeing how it was with 
her, Karl kissed the eyes now full of 
tears and went back home disap- 
pointed, but not despairing. 

So the years sped until Gretchen’s 
nineteenth birthday. 

One evening she hid her head in 


of Goldau. 


35 


Franziska’s lap, and, with many a 
break, confessed that the brave 
hunter from over the mountains 
had said that he loved her, and 
asked her to be his wife. 

“ His wife you wish to be?” asked 
the tender voice. 

“ I love him,” was the whispered 
answer, “ and to-morrow he comes to 
ask ‘ der Vater.’ ” 

If, for a moment, Franziska’s faith- 
ful heart ached, Gretchen never knew 
it; and when “der Vater’s” yes had 
been spoken, no one entered more 
heartily into the work and plans than 
she. What love and sympathy and 
counsel, as well as work, she gave, no 
one save Gretchen ever knew. 

On a bright morning, to the sound 
of music, there came marching down 
the long street Gretchen in gay at- 
fire, followed by her mates ; the 


36 


The Brave little Maid, 


bridegroom and his friends, who had 
come over the mountain-passes to 
see him married. And when, in the 
dim old church, the gray-haired, 
fatherly priest had counselled them, 
married them, and blessed them, 
Gretchen kissed “ der Vater” and 
Heinrich good-bye ; clung for a mo- 
ment to Franziska, as though she 
could not let her go ; — then turned 
her face toward the snow-clad mount- 
ains, beyond which lay her husband’s 
home. 

As the day passed, how desolate 
was the house without bright, laugh- 
ing Gretchen. It seemed to Fran- 
ziska as though she could not bear 
it, and when her work was done she 
stepped out into the twilight that 
“der Vater” and Heinrich might not 
see her grieving and her tears. 


of Goldau. 


37 


Suddenly Karl stood before her. 
He held out his hands and said, “ So 
long have the years been, Franziska, 
and the home so lonesome is ; will 
you now come ?” 

Then was her sorrow turned into 
joy, and she answered, “If you want 
me, oh so gladly will I come to you, 
my Karl and Karl was content. 

All this happened long ago, and 
both Gretchen and Franziska lived 
to tell the story of their marvellous 
escape to their many grandchildren ; 
while “ der Vater ” never wearied of 
repeating, or Heinrich’s children of 
hearing, how brave Franziska en- 
couraged and cheered little Gret- 
chen through *-hat long and terrible 
night. 

Some time ago I stood above the 
buried village and looked up at the 


38 


The Brave little Maid 


Rossberg. The mountain has never 
smiled since that awful day. No 
trees or shrubs or grassy meadows 
grow upon its sides ; all is bare and 
desolate. But in the valley the grass 
and moss grow green ; the vines 
twine themselves over and around 
the great rocks, from under whose 
shadows ferns and lovely little flow- 
ers lift their heads. 

Suddenly the soft, clear tones of 
the evening bell floated through the 
air, — that sweet-voiced bell whose 
music reached Franziska and called 
her back to hopes of life and home so 
long ago. How sweetly it sounded 
on the quiet air, — coming, — going, 
— softer, — fainter ; and when at last 
it died away the sun had dropped 
behind the mountains, leaving the 
rosy-tinted clouds peeping over their 


of Goldau. 


89 


rocky edges ; while in the valley the 
shadows lay thick upon grass and 
vine. 

Stepping softly, reverently, over 
the dead homes, Goldau and the 
night were left alone together. 



eoe m 























V 

nfl* • 0 N C 4- Af. * * - ,V « 

0° * * v-'® * 

inNL y>. C* 

\ ^ V 


H§8)F/’ A -j, *. 'W7%' r rP cv >; « aP 

* a N o 5 \^ X . *>. *11 1 ‘ s * . , * 3 N o 

V % <Vo / «> - ,9 C> V s ^ * 0 / 



*%• C* 




</* 



V 

✓ ^ S-&- V r> 

<- '/ , ,s A A>, ' 

^ ,V « * » V U 


V 

l -, <* 

?** :*tJi - v oo 

\ -<• ^ 



^ - 

v < s s 

* v> ^e. 

0 ♦ k ^ 0 <* V . s 

% ^ . 








VV * 



v- y> 


x 0o -<. 


,. y ~ ■*" •) ( 

. A ' v mOjr. 7 



.p ^.*i-;-wf * *? -^. o rayra * 'V ^ „ Vi n 

to % ^ -v ^ V^V -\ *- • 

r* % V' /AaV A •% < 


W 



, ^vcjjr > ^ ^ 

'* A® 

• ° v" * C> v ^ ■> * 0 , 


c- -,V^'* 3 ' *>' 

"V A* *' 


*V * V 



* . . n *> A 




\V 






x ^ 











^ A* v 



1 -‘'W A'" 

v.a, '*• >* 4 & 





> 


a'd * ^ 

- * *. ^ ; ^sjE 

A 


* ,. v - > \K * v? vf* ♦ W>^ 

A , , . V '*- • ^ 4 ° w <- ' 

0 ° - !T % ** 



r ^ . 

r /- ^ 




\ 00 ^. 


0 

A \ C * O r l' 

© W ^ '* C* 

- 


•P. 


; V 

l{ •/ / • -*, > ; ?; » c -A 


V s »- J)> 

" •* ' i ' ^ \. ^ 


/* 


¥ . ~ s A 

' ' A'' v* v '‘ V 



S 

* 









c v>% 

*• * Q.V 

O, '«,v* ,0 

«' ' * * ^ . 0 * C° N * * 






